January 05, (THEWILL) — Egypt advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals after defeating Benin 3-1 in a match that required extra time. Marwan Attia contributed both a goal and an assist, whilst Yasser Ibrahim and Mohamed Salah also found the net to confirm the Pharaohs’ progression.
The first half produced limited opportunities, with Omar Marmoush seeing his shot cleared off the line by Yohan Roche following Mohamed Hamdy’s cross. Rami Rabia was similarly denied after the interval when Tamimou Ouorou blocked his attempt, and Mohamed El Shenawy stopped Jodel Dossou at the opposite end.
Attia broke the deadlock in the 69th minute, collecting Mohamed Hany’s pass before driving a finish into the top-left corner from outside the penalty area. Benin equalised seven minutes from full time when Junior Olaitan intercepted a misplaced pass from El Shenawy and crossed for Dossou, who converted the rebound from close range.
Egypt regained their advantage seven minutes into extra time through a set-piece routine. Attia delivered a precise corner towards the penalty spot, where Yasser Ibrahim directed a header into the top-left corner to restore the lead.
Emam Ashour narrowly missed adding a third goal when his dipping shot flew just over the crossbar. Salah completed the scoring in the fourth minute of stoppage time, finishing from distance after a rapid counter-attack to seal Egypt’s victory and their place in the last eight.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
